[Andrew66]

That’s a very good point VK about booking a CE trip as a holiday , I got 5000 AVIOS for a 1 night stay in Jersey , and booked as a package was only a tiny bit more than just flight only .
One point I would like to clarify though is ( and can’t find anything in the T&Cs ) is I’m looking to book a CE flights to ACE Lanzarote next year and we have been there many times before but only renting villas with flight only by thomson etc , if I was to book one night in the cheapest pit available which I see is about £30 would this be classified as a holiday and would I get 5000 AVIOS ? I have no intention of staying there and would just go to the rented villa , but to get 5000 AVIOS for £30 is not bad .

[VintageKrug]

Do check fares again this morning, as there are now several CE destinations in the £200 range recently loaded.

Amsterdam
from Gatwick (London)
£199 return

Angers
from City Airport (London)
£199 return

Bordeaux
from Gatwick (London)
£199 return

Genoa
from Gatwick (London)
£199 return

Hanover
from Heathrow (London)
£199 return

Rotterdam
from Heathrow (London)
£199 return

Stavanger
from Heathrow (London)
£199 return

Zagreb
from Heathrow (London)
£199 return

Basel
from Heathrow (London)
£200 return

Hamburg
from Heathrow (London)
£200 return

Quimper
from City Airport (London)
£200 return

Book by 4th June.

[TiredOldHack]

I must say, Hamburg looks like fun as well. I’ve never been there.

What is there to d for a weekend in hamburg, except for the obvious down the Reeperbahn? And as I’ll have Mrs TOH with me, they’ll probably charge me corkage.

Incidentally, met with Martyn Sinclair in Bangkok for a drink – thanks Martyn, I’ll buy the beer next time.

We reckoned it was about time for a forum meet…

[SimaHir]

Done a few day trips to Hamburg with the kids to see the worlds largest model railway – phenomenal http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com

You can also try the submarine http://www.portofhamburg.com/en/poi/u-434-submarine-museum which is just down the road from the railway museum.

Depending on weather, there are also mini cruises around the river/ports.

[VintageKrug]

Reeperbahn is vile, and best avoided. I’m a big fan of Germany; lots to see and much underrated.

Three things I’d recommend in Hamburg:

1. The excellent, if unfortunate-sounding, Kunsthalle:

http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/

…Walter and “Fail Better Moving Images” look worthy of some time.

2. Boat Tour around the Port of Hamburg, ending up with a walk around the newly developed Hafencity Quarter.

3. The stand out best recommendation is Hamburg Unterwelden, tours around the abandoned WW2 and Nuclear bunkers:

http://www.hamburgerunterwelten.de/

Unmissable. You’ll never look at seemingly innocuous doors on the London Underground in the same light again!

[Stretch]

Could anybody suggest the cheapest way I can earn 320 tier points to retain my Gold status before the beginning of May? I am willing to travel ex-EU. Thanks

[SergeantMajor]

Not huge value, but without a longhaul trip I’d recommend an exJER to MLA in CE for £500 rtn = 240 TPs plus spend £200 on the nested positioning flights LGW-JER for 80 TPs.

Spot on your 320TP requirement, and could be done without any nights away (though if you do stay, book hotels via BA hols for the bonus avios).

Don’t forget http://www.quidco.co.uk and http://www.ba.com/onbusiness to maximise value!

[AnthonyDunn]

Snr Management and I did a LGW-BOD day trip a month or so ago for just this reason. For about £100 pp return (and 6,000 Avios), the return sector in CE on Saturday evening cost less than in Y and the plane was the emptiest we’ve either of us experienced since SR was on the verge of going belly up some years ago.

The city bus Nr. 1 bus into town operates approx every 10 minutes and takes about 45-50 minutes (not a lot of point in doing a car hire for the day) and costs €2 each way. This goes all the way into the centre of town (Pl. Quinconces) where the Bordeaux tourist office is found. The FastJet bus is only hourly, costs more, takes only marginally less time and terminates at the train station. The tourist office can give a walking tour that will give a wonderful introduction to the city.

For a fantastic lunch venue, we came across La Brasserie Bordelaise ( http://www.brasserie-bordelaise.fr/ ) at 50 Rue Saint-Rémi, 33000 Bordeaux which is open 12:00 -15:00 and 19:00 – 24:00. This is just up from the place de la Bourse on the quayside. Don’t dare ask for a New World wine! For anyone staying the weekend, it’s well worth checking out what’s on at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. For those who’ve an interest in viticulture, where do you start (or finish….)?

All-in-all, somewhere that is well worth visiting – and for rather longer than we had time for on this occasion.

[SergeantMajor]

Thanks for that insight; I was interested in visiting Bordeaux, but worried we’d be stranded at the airport and have to brave extortionate cabs or hire a car.

At around £199 rtn in CE it’s good option for lunch one weekend.

[superchris]

anthonydunn -you say you visited BOD for just this reason, which is presumably a tier point run,. But do you earn tier points if you have part paid for the ticket on Avios?? Confused.

[TiredOldHack]

A far as I know, if you part-pay on Avoids, you don’t get TPs…

Mrs TOH and I needed to do this TP top-up last year, and did a combined BA Sale CW trip to Amsterdam. Booked a hotel at the same time, and made a weekend of it. Came in at something like £550 for the two of us, plus 80TPs.

On the return flight, asked for a bottle of bubbly, which the lady brought, and I raised a glass to her, saying: “This trip has got me to Gold.”

It took a second or two for her to twig.

“What, you’ve hit Gold on this trip?”

“Yup!”

And she actually went and brought back a long print-out, which I assume was the passenger manifest, scanned it, beamed, and said: “Oh, well done! Er, you didn’t get all those points just going to Amsterdam and back, did you?”

“No!”

EDIT: Just seen that it was I who started this thread. Alzheimers strikes.

[openfly]

It does seem odd, but if you select a commercial fare on BA and you part pay in Avios, you get the appropriate Tier Points AND Avios.

If you pay in Avios and add cash, then you do not get anything.

I got a BOD Club for April using cash and the 4500 Avios (£30 discount) for £140 return….amazing value…giving me 80 TP and 2000 Avios.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Superchris – 07/03/2014 08:54 GMT

Strange but true: if you start the booking from paying with cash and then reduce the price with 4-5000 Avios (there is a range of price reducing options) then you could end up paying as little as a pony for a return trip. Ours was £95 outbound in Y, inbound £35 in CE reduced to £100 overall and with full TPs and Avios awards.

And BOD is a thoroughly enchanting place with superb architecture, great food and wine and lots to see if you’ve the time, with not a bucket and spade anywhere in sight.

[SergeantMajor]

I’ve never used these mix and match fares, as I feel you may as well earn the TPs, full avios and onbusiness points.

But an interest find; alas usually not long for this world once publicised, though……

[Author]

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